Thinking about a tube roll to Brimar or Telefunken
R f Sayles, Have you read "Joes tube Lore" for 12ax7 and 6922 tubes. http://www.audioasylum.com/scripts/d.pl?audio/faq/joes-tubes.html |
Jea48 Thanks and yes I have read the whole thing on several occasions. In the final analysis he seems to fly in the face of generally excepted favor of Telefunken being the Holy Grail. That’s interesting. Fact is there are plenty of other tubes out there to choose from. Don't believe Joe ever divulges his "rig" and that is a shame. It leaves us with no point of reference. No doubt there is a wealth of observation there. |
Joe S is a friend of mine, we have spent dozens of hours on the phone over the last few years and traded countless emails. Joe is a VERY intelligent person and a very careful listener. His reference speakers and amplifiers are the ones I sold him, Sound Lab M-1 and Wolcott Presence 220. He and I agree on some things and disagree on others . The rating of the Telefunken 12AX-7 is an obvious example. For what it's worth, most audiophiles and tube experts classify the Tele 12AX7 as the "reference" design for this type. Needless to say, I agree with the majority :^). As for the RCA 5692, I have tried many versions of it and agree it has merit. Some equipment, particularly the Aesthetix, simply DOES NOT work with the RCA, offering dismal results with it plugged into it's circuit. As with all things audio, the associated gear, personal taste, room acoustics, listening volume and many other factors enter into the equation. I advise you experiment with Tele's, confident that if you don't like them, there are a hundred people waiting to take them off your hands. Good luck with your tube rolling adventures. |
Albert, Thanks again for the added info. and tipping us off to your association with Joe S. Again I find your help invaluable in my pursuit of the music. Audiogon threads can sure be a lot of fun with banter flying every which way. In this particular case the wisdom of those that have already "been there" is saving the rest of us great expense and frustration. Thank you. |
Just my 2 cents.This past winter,both I and my friend(who has almost the exact same rig as me)decided to do a fairly thorough "tube rolling" discourse,with our phono stages.I'll begin by stating that the Joe's Tube Lore piece was,and is,extremely accurate for the most part.I believe that Joe does state that his is a digital based set-up,and this MUST be taken into consideration,though the final findings are really amazing to me,in their thoroughness. Some of our findings,done with usually two sets each,of tubes,for accuracy,in phono ONLY!The Tele's "sort of sucked",and were not cheap.I say this based on price,and compared to other tube types.Russian sovteks were "EHH"!Gold pinned Mullards were "pretty good",not great,but a nice smooth sound.Amperex 7308(non PQ) was very nice,nice violin sound,a bit lacking in slam.Amperex PQ was "exactly as Joe described", really a fine tube,in all areas.Ediswan 6922's were a real surprise,though well reviewed,they had a "ton" of dynamics,and were really very nice,in all areas.Very similar to the PQ Amperexes,to us.The tube that we liked the best,though I'm not advocating getting these,due to high pricing,as well as getting really good low noise ones,was the Siemens CCa's.WOW!!!We were privy to an EXTREMELY low noise batch(not easy to find them this quiet),and they were stunning with a capital "S"!!Incredible high freq. extension,with a never ending top extension,that is SO "PURE",I would not have believed it.Fabulous "SLAM",and dynamic impact.Gorgeous tonality too.But, way too expensive.IMO,the Amperex family,for alot less money,is the value here,though I'm hanging on to my CCa's,with an iron grip!They work so well in my ARC phonostage that I'm not really interested in trying the "Pinched Waist" Amperexes!Actually I lied.I think I'm sort of like the guy in the movie "Close Encounters Of the Third Kind!I feel forced to try them.If I'm lucky enough to find a few.Best regards! |
